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NYSBA Celebrates New Law Requiring the Recording of Interrogations

NYSBAImage: NYSBA.org

A matrimonial and family law attorney based in White Plains, New York, Gordon Burrows graduated from St. John’s University School of Law with his JD over 30 years ago. Since then, he has practiced law in various capacities and serves as the county legislator for Westchester County’s 15th District Court. Active in the professional community, Gordon Burrows belongs to the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA).

Dedicated to informing and educating the public and legal professionals, the NYSBA regularly promotes new legislation. In April, the organization announced that it had finally succeeded in helping pass a new law relating to interrogations, after supporting it for more than a decade.

This new law was included in the 2017-2018 budget and went in to effect on April 1, 2018. According to the new rules, law enforcement agencies must record custodial interrogations using video when questioning a person accused of a serious crime. In doing so, the NYSBA hopes to prevent wrongful convictions and prosecutions within the state. Courts may deem a confession inadmissible if the interrogation of the person was not video recorded.

The road to getting this legislation passed began in 2004 when the NYSBA first began drafting a law that required interrogations to be recorded. Two years later, the organization received grant funds to purchase video equipment for district attorneys around the state.

In 2009, the NYSBA’s Task Force on Wrongful Convictions released a comprehensive report examining wrongful convictions in the state, and by 2015, NYSBA announced that it had drafted a bill requiring the recording of interrogations alongside the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York and the Innocence Project.

Finally, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo presented the legislation in 2017, and the measure was subsequently enacted.